President Laura Fernández has delivered her strongest defense yet of the sudden firing of Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar, warning her entire Cabinet that major decisions go through her and declaring: “The president is me.” Fernández spoke yesterday, one day after dismissing Tovar while he was representing Costa Rica at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The firing has drawn questions from opposition lawmakers and foreign-policy experts over both the reason for his removal and the timing, with Costa Rica still in the middle of one of the most important diplomatic weeks of the year. The dispute centers on a meeting in New York involving U.S. President Donald Trump and members of the Escudo de las Américas, or Shield of the Americas, a U.S.-led group of governments working together on drug trafficking, organized crime and security.
Fernández says Tovar received the invitation but failed to tell her about it, then effectively appointed himself to represent Costa Rica at the meeting. “What he did, when he received the invitation and assigned himself as Costa Rica’s representative at the meeting, is something I cannot overlook,” Fernández said yesterday.
She made clear that the message extends beyond Tovar as Fernández said ministers cannot take decisions or assume powers belonging to the presidency without her approval, adding: “None will make decisions without my consent; the president is me.” Her comments turn what began as a dispute over one diplomatic meeting into a broader warning about how she expects her government to operate.
Fernández argues that Tovar’s handling of the invitation cost Costa Rica an important opportunity. Ten presidents attended the meeting, along with Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister and representatives from several other governments. The participants later issued a joint statement calling for stronger regional action against organized crime and drug trafficking.
Fernández was not in New York as she had previously decided not to attend this year’s U.N. General Assembly and was instead in Colombia during part of the week. After firing Tovar, she apologized to U.S. Ambassador Melinda Hildebrand for missing the Shield of the Americas meeting and said the failure to pass the invitation to her was an error she could not ignore.
But the timeline has raised questions. Tovar had publicly discussed the upcoming meeting with the Miami Herald as early as September 17, five days before it took place. That does not establish that Fernández herself had been informed, but it shows that the meeting and Costa Rica’s expected participation were not entirely secret within diplomatic circles.
Opposition lawmakers have also questioned the decision to remove the foreign minister in the middle of the U.N. gathering. National Liberation Party lawmakers raised concerns about instability inside the government and recent handling of foreign affairs, while lawmakers from Frente Amplio and Coalición Agenda Ciudadana also questioned aspects of the dismissal. The governing Pueblo Soberano bloc defended Fernández’s authority to choose who serves in her Cabinet.
Foreign-policy specialists and former foreign ministers interviewed by Costa Rican media have warned that the timing could complicate the country’s diplomatic work, particularly its campaign to win international support for Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan to become the next U.N. secretary-general.
Fernández named Foreign Trade Minister Indiana Trejos as interim foreign minister. Trejos was also participating in the U.N. mission and is expected to formally assume the Foreign Ministry role after returning. One immediate question remains unresolved: who will deliver Costa Rica’s scheduled address to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, September 28. Tovar had been expected to give that speech before his dismissal, and as of the latest public reporting, the government had not confirmed his replacement at the podium.
The controversy therefore enters the weekend with Fernández making her position unmistakable. For her, the issue is not simply whether Costa Rica was represented at the meeting with Trump. It is who had the authority to decide how the country would be represented.
